The University College Hospital Mycology Research/Study Group, Ibadan says many untreated fungal infection may be life-threatening, accounting for between 50,000 and 100,000 deaths yearly in Nigeria.
The convener, Dr Adetona Fayemiwo, made the assertion at a press conference on the occasion of the Fungal Disease Awareness Week 2019 tagged: “Think Fungus.”
The Medical Mycology Society of Nigeria (MMSN), in collaboration with the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), organised the week to highlight the critical need for increased recognition and awareness of fungal diseases.
Fayemiwo said it is important to recognise serious fungal diseases early enough, in the course of a patient’s illness, to provide life-saving treatment.
According to him, a clue to when a sick person may have a fungal infection is that he or she is being treated with medications for other types of infection but does not get better.
The medical expert declared that many fungal diseases mimic flu, pneumonia and tuberculosis and as such CDC is focusing on three fungal diseases (valley fever, blastomycosis and histoplasmosis) that can feel like flu or pneumonia.
He stated that life-threatening serious fungal infection affects about 11.5 million patients worldwide and accounts for 1.5 million deaths annually.
Dr Fayemiwo said, “increased awareness about fungal diseases is one of the most important ways to improve early recognition and reduce delays in diagnosis and treatment.
“These diseases are widely under-recognised and misdiagnosed and can cause devastating illness, even in previously healthy people. So, healthcare providers and their parents need to ‘think fungus’ when symptoms of infection do not get better with treatment.”
Dr Fayemiwo, however, said identifying these infections require trained personnel and optimal medical mycology laboratory as this is important to ensure better access to its rapid diagnosis and more targeted use of antifungal and other resources.
“The health of those suffering from serious fungal infections can be transformed primarily through health professional education, facilitation of high quality diagnostics and improved use of antifungal drugs.
“There is a need to make a bold attempt to define a clear pathway for improvement in care for patients’ with serious fungal diseases. Many lives are being lost due to limited diagnostic capabilities for fungal diseases and an unnecessary antifungal therapy in hospitals on wrong patients.
“Benefits of setting up of medical mycology laboratory include unhindered access to diagnostics for the majority of the populations, training and retraining of qualified personnel to solve critical problems, reduced hospital admissions and deaths and improved surveillance and capacity for detecting and tracking fungal infection outbreaks.”
Dr Funmilola Makanjuola, also a mycologist, stated that fungal diseases as a public health problem globally can affect all age groups, including children.
According to her, the commonest fungal disease in children is ringworm, which spreads through contact and takes months for its effective treatment.
Dr Makanjuola declared that different types of ringworm can affect different parts of the body, including fingernails, body, the toes and groins.
She added “even adults can contact a form of ringworm through sex.”
Past Head of Department, Medical Microbiology, UCH, Ibadan, Professor Rasheed Bakare, said the hospital’s mycology laboratory berth after patients in the hospital’s intensive care unit were dying.
“We investigated them and there was no growth to suggest that the patients had sepsis, yet there were signs and symptoms of sepsis.”